


By the Lake

by epistrophia



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-09-09
Updated: 2004-09-09
Packaged: 2019-02-05 17:10:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12798732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epistrophia/pseuds/epistrophia
Summary: Definitely doesn't deserve one!  Snippet.  A very snippety snippet.  This *might*, one day, end up in a full-sized fic (a cabin fic, I'm ashamed to say).





	By the Lake

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

"You killed me!"

 

"Yeah, well, you killed me too. And I took a lot longer to recover than you did."

 

"You made my life hell. And..." so quietly Alex could hardly hear him, "... you made it terrifying to wake up every morning."

 

Alex swallowed twice before he was able to say, "I want to make it up to you. That's why I came. To try - finally - to make things right."

 

Skinner stared darkly at him for almost a minute. Alex looked back at him, not blinking, trying to keep his gaze as open and honest as possible - not an easy task after years of the exact opposite.

 

Then Skinner blinked and turned on his heel, striding towards the lake. Alex watched him, unsure whether he was supposed to follow or to leave.

 

At the lake's edge Skinner stopped and turned to look at him, arms crossed. Alex took this as an invitation and loped towards him.

 

"Can you gut fish?"

 

"Don't know. I gutted a chemist once... Don't give me that look, he was one of the bad guys."

 

"Alex, *you* were one of the bad guys."

 

Trying not to smile at the use of his first name and of the past tense, Alex shrugged.

 

"Right. I'll catch them, you gut them, I'll cook them."

 

"I can cook, you know."

 

"My kitchen. I'll cook."

 

"Does this mean I'm invited to stay?"

 

"This means you're invited to dinner. We'll work the rest out later."


End file.
